Oregon Brewers Festival 2016. Resurrected Post.

July 31, 2016

Oregon Brewers Festival 2016

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Once again beer takes over the web log. This week saw the 29th annual Oregon Brewers Festival sprawl across the Portland waterfront. And as usual, I showed up to do my part helping empty the kegs. Biking there worked up a thirst. Biking home ensured sobriety. Sigh. Always trade offs. Anyway, here are my tasting notes and some pictures.

 

Bayern Brewing. Citra Charged Dump Truck. Maibock. 6%. Maibock smooth with a refreshing citrus bite and hint of hops. Aftertaste a trifle muddy. Good beer overall.

Boulder Beer Co. Pulp fusion Blood Orange IPA. 6.5%. A pulpy mess. Bitter with no hoppy backbone. No character other than the touch of orange zest.

Double Mtn. Brewery and Taproom. Randall Knife. IPA. 7%. Tremendous floral nose. Needs more gluten. I wondered where the bready balance had gone. Bastards stole the gluten!

Drake’s Brewing Co. Foraging Racoon IPA. 7%. Complex bitterness — in a good way. Different hops vie for the tastebuds’ attention. Not a session beer, but one to appreciate. Probably a good beer to accompany a meal.

Breakside Brewery. Pomegranate Gose. 4.6%. The whiff of fruit beer, like a cornered animal warning off a predator with a squirt of chemicals. Initially the gose saltiness holds off the fruity cloying-ness of the pomegranate. But not long enough. Esteemed Breakside — even Homer nods.

Burnside Brewing Co. Cedar IPA. 7.4%. Zero nose. Nada. Solid IPA taste, mildly citric, nice hit of the cedar. HIgh marks except for the lack of smell. The nose needs love too.

Flying Fish Brewing Co. Love Fish. Belgian-style Dubbel. 7.1%. I think the addition of cherries actually detracts from what would otherwise be a pretty solid beer. I’d prefer the brewer played up the raisin notes and boost the ABV.

Payette Brewing Co. 8 Second Rye’d. Imperial Rye Pale Ale. 8%. So close. Tastes…incomplete, hollow. Needs more body. The flavor is almost spot-on for the style, but the mouth-feel is watery.

Natian Brewery. 50 Shades of (Earl) Grey. IPA. 8.1%. Get a hint of tea at first sniff. Not sure why this isn’t classified as a double or imperial IPA. This is a big, robust beer. Not as floral or citric as I might prefer, but the tea infusion works. Good.

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